At the top of the card is shown an emblem of the new light, with ten horns of the Beast, which are serpents, sent forth in every direction to destroy and re-create the world. […]

“And this is the comedy of Pan, that is played at night in the thick forest. And this is the mystery of Dionysus Zagreus, that is celebrated upon the holy mountain of Kithairon. And this is the secret of the brothers of the Rosy Cross; and this is the heart of the ritual that is accomplished in the Vault of the Adepts that is hidden in the Mountain of the Caverns, even the Holy Mountain Abiegnus.

“And this is the meaning of the Supper of the Passover, the spilling of the blood of the Lamb being a ritual of the Dark Brothers, for they have sealed up the Pylon with blood, lest the Angel of Death should enter therein. Thus do they shut themselves off from the company of the saints. Thus do they keep themselves from compassion and from understanding. Accursed are they, for they shut up their blood in their heart.

“They keep themselves from the kisses of my Mother Babylon, and in their lonely fortresses they pray to the false moon. And they bind themselves together with an oath, and with a great curse. And of their malice they conspire together, and they have power, and mastery, and in their cauldrons do they brew the harsh wine of delusion, mingled with the poison of their selfishness.

“Thus they make war upon the Holy One, sending forth their delusion upon men, and upon everything that liveth. So that their false compassion is called compassion, and their false understanding is called understanding, for this is their most potent spell.

“Yet of their own poison do they perish, and in their lonely fortresses shall they be eaten up by Time that hath cheated them to serve him, and by the mighty devil Choronzon, their master, whose name is the Second Death, for the blood that they have sprinkled on their Pylon, that is a bar against the Angel Death, is the key by which he entereth in.”

Comments

While I can see some general inspiration in places from Crowley in Hubbard’s work, I think that drawing connections between the snakes in Atu XI (Lust) and the “Ideal Org” illustrations is a stretch beyond the breaking point. What this section of Liber CDXVIII (The Vision and the Voice) has to do with anything on this page is unclear.

In my opinion, you are overemphasizing and exaggerating the tenuous “connections” between Hubbard and Crowley. Instead of using your time and energy comparing symbols found in Crowley’s works and comparing them to Scn symbols to say, “Ah! Here’s ANOTHER connection between Hubbard and the ‘black arts’!”, why not target current actions by Scn that are illegal and work with others to expose them? Fixating on finding any connection you can between Scn and the Occult would seem to me to come to little good end and is a waste of energy that could be going towards other, more constructive goals.